A Giant Tale

By Tarn Maley

Set on another world, an enjoyable evening of celebration turns to disaster with the sudden invasion of an army of metal soldiers. Assisted by huge giants, the mechanical army destroys a fishing village and captures the inhabitants. Only a few escape… Eitak, Sirod Spa and Bones find each other in extraordinary circumstances and so begins a thrilling adventure that covers three continents and takes the reader over snow-topped mountains, through white rapid waters, to a slave city and onto a vast desert, home to a huge hurricane and its secrets beyond. A Giant Tale contains intrigue. We meet savage monsters and unexpected new friends in the form of the soul-shifting dead. The story has magic and giants, hope and death. A Giant Tale contains love and war and leads to an eventual showdown with the metal army and the mystery of how it came to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Sep 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398421691

Tarn Maley

The author, Tarn Maley, is a recently retired police officer who lives in East Sussex, England. During the COVID pandemic lockdown, he has gained some international notoriety from dressing up daily and posting a variety of costumes to the Australian Bin Outing site. This has provided entertainment and distraction to lift the spirits of people suffering most in very difficult times. A Giant Tale is the author’s first published works, with a view to continuing the story in further publications in the future.

Book preview

About the Author

The author, Tarn Maley, is a recently retired police officer who lives in East Sussex, England. During the COVID pandemic lockdown, he has gained some international notoriety from dressing up daily and posting a variety of costumes to the Australian Bin Outing site. This has provided entertainment and distraction to lift the spirits of people suffering most in very difficult times.

A Giant Tale is the author’s first published works, with a view to continuing the story in further publications in the future.

Copyright Information ©

Tarn Maley (2021)

The right of Tarn Maley to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398421684 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398421691 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

1. The Golden Army

Eitak La Doog lived in the small fishing village of Monrith, one of the southern most points of the northern continent of Glomorosa on the planet Kennet. As he stood on the sand looking out to sea on what was a beautiful, calm and clear night, his mind drifted. Today had been his 20th birthday and just as he was about to remember the events of this special day, he caught a glimpse of something on the horizon. At first, he couldn’t quite make it out, a dark shadow which seemed to glimmer now and then like the light of a fire and as his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he noticed another shadow and then another and another. He began to count them and before long he had reached 20. Eitak strained his eyes and squinted to see if he could make out what these shapes were and as they came closer, he could see that they were in fact several sailing boats which were heading towards the shore with their sails full and billowing as if being blown by a great storm. Strange, Eitak thought aloud; there was no wind on shore at all. He was stood on the beach in a short-sleeved tunic and could not even feel a breeze, yet here were these boats under full sail. Eitak stood for a while looking at the boats and wondered who was sailing them and why were they heading towards the little fishing village of Monrith.

Just as he considered going to get someone else to take a look with him, he saw a bolt of light rise into the sky from the leading boat. It looked just like a firework, except that it wasn’t going straight up but was heading towards the shore. The light from its tail lit up the sky so that Eitak could now see the boats clearly. They were small war galleons, battleships of sail and they were, in fact, travelling at some speed towards the beach. As Eitak’s eyes gazed from the top of the masts to the level of the sea, he gasped in astonishment. For there, wading across the sea up to their shoulders in water were several giants. Eitak had never seen a giant before; yet, here they were wading across the sea, blowing the sails of the ships and helping them across the water. The giants were huge and dwarfed the ships which looked tiny by comparison. Eitak’s attention now came back to the firework heading straight towards him. The flare of light was travelling at great speed, its burning tail filling the sky in front of him. Eitak instinctively dropped to the ground, just as the bolt of flame whistled over his head and landed firmly in the thatched roof of the single storied ‘House of the Midday Moon’ which immediately burst into flames.

Eitak, shocked, looked back out to sea towards the ships which were now a lot closer and looked a lot larger than they had when he had first caught a sight of them. He could now see several new bolts of light rising from the bow of each vessel. Eitak in a semi state of panic, rose to his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, Help, Help, we are under attack! And he ran towards the houses to the right of the pub repeating his words over and over again.

The window of one of the cottages opened and an angry voice shouted down to him, Why don’t you just shut up and go home? Can’t you see that we trying to sleep here? Eitak, sweating from a mixture of fear and excitement, looked up and saw ‘Thaddeus, the butcher’, looking back at him. Just as he was about to tell Thaddeus what was going on, another bolt of fire landed, this one smashing right through the roof of Thaddeus’ tool shed.

What in Kennet’s name is going on… Thaddeus said angrily.

We are under attack! shouted Eitak. Run for your life!

Thaddeus looked out from his upstairs window and could see the ships coming ashore. The sky was now filled with bolts of fire which rained down all over the small fishing village.

Eitak could hear the screams of people as they became aware of what was happening. He saw men, women and children running in all directions away from the fires which now raged over most of Monrith. Eitak now shaking turned back to the water’s edge just as the first of the boats landed. From each craft jumped a group of golden metal soldiers. At first, they appeared to look like men but to Eitak’s disbelief, he could see that they were, in fact, made entirely of metal and armour plate. Each of the soldiers emitted a whirring and clunking sound as if a large clockwork mechanism was at work inside. The automatons held in their hands a variety of weapons, from axes and swords to pikes and crossbows and received orders from sinister looking figures dressed in black robes that stood at the bow of each ship giving directions.

By now, the giants had waded out of the sea and were stood on the shore looking down at the metal army at their feet. They were not actively involved in the invasion and just seemed to be taking it all in. One of the robed figures turned and looked in Eitak’s direction. Eitak could see that beneath the robes was a golden facemask, smooth and featureless apart from two slits for eyes. The robed creature shouted to one of the giants and pointed at the now burning ‘House of the Midday Moon’. The giant shook his head and took no notice of the creature. However, the creature shouted something further and with some reluctance, the giant headed towards the pub.

Just then someone ran past Eitak; it was Thaddeus, the butcher, dressed in his nightgown, large boots and nightcap. Run, you fool, run, he shouted as he disappeared down a path which led towards the main road, leading out of town and to the hills beyond, the bobble of his nightcap bouncing as he went. Eitak was still running on pure adrenaline and he ran in the opposite direction to Thaddeus, towards several small fishing boats which had been dragged up onto the beach. As he ran, he saw the giant raise one foot which he then brought down on the roof of the burning pub. The building collapsed, the roof caved in and burning eaves and rafters crashed through each floor to the ground. The walls gave way and crumbled under the enormous weight of the huge foot which stamped on the building and smashed it to the earth. The metal army ran amok, chasing, grabbing and capturing people, indiscriminately men women and children, all suffered the same fate; those who were not able to run were caught and shackled by the clockwork machines. These people now fleeing for their lives; they were Eitak’s friends and neighbours.

Eitak approached the first fishing boat that he came to and hid underneath, tucking his body tightly against the rudder of what actually appeared to be one of the larger vessels. He had a safe but restricted view through the gap between the rudder and hull and from here, he was able to get a good look at the mechanical army swarming past him on the other side of the boat. Each clockwork soldier wore varying degrees of golden armour ranging from welded chain mail to heavy, full metal plate. Many wore helmets of differing shapes and descriptions; some full faced, some open, some with horns while others had elaborated plumes. He noticed that beneath their helmets, the soldiers did not have proper faces. Their heads were a lattice work of welded metal with a cage protecting the internal workings of their mechanisms. For eyes, each solder had two short glass telescopes which glowed blue in the dark and behind these eyes, Eitak could see a mysterious blue glow. All the soldiers differed in size just like a conventional army but the one thing they all shared in common was that they were all made of glistening gold. Eitak could see that each was extremely intricate and beautifully crafted and had obviously been made with great care and attention to detail.

Eitak’s heart began to slow down from the racing pace which had been set by the circumstances. He realised that he had just spent the last few minutes on pure adrenaline and had not really had time to take it all in. Instinct had taken over and his fight or fright mechanisms had worked perfectly. Now he felt himself sweating and he began to shake, fear was setting in. How had such a wonderful day turned to this?

Eitak shook his head, trying to refocus from the horrors in front of him. The giants still stood on the beach head, were huge oversized men who towered over the galleons. Dressed in furs, which dripped water like huge waterfalls onto the sand, they huddled in a group talking amongst themselves, only one of these massive creatures was engaged in the destruction of Monrith and even he did not seem to be doing so with any great enthusiasm.

Eitak’s mind began to fill with questions, who were this army? Where had they come from? What did they want with Monrith? Or for that matter…were they even from this world? Eitak considered this for a moment and then decided that as he lived on Kennet and because he had heard of giants before, then these machines must have come from there.

Kennet was a beautiful planet which was host to a variety of life forms and creatures of all shapes and sizes, not all of which were pleasant. Amongst the races, there were the humans of whom Eitak was one. Now 20, he considered himself to be at the peak of his physical fitness, he was also the talk of the town. Quite handsome and also very eligible, he stood six feet tall and was fairly athletic. He had short dark brown hair but most unusually, he had one brown and one blue eye and this caught the attention of both the available and sometimes, problematically, the unavailable women of Monrith. Next there were the Wirral, a human race comprising only of females. The women of the Wirral were the huntresses of Kennet and lived for the most part in the vast forests and woodlands. No one had ever seen a male Wirral which led to speculation and myth as to how their species perpetuated. Then there were the Nagraal, the people whose spirit inhabited the bodies of the recently departed, their own bodies having died years ago but their souls refusing to move on. The Nagraal feared the day of their judgement, most felt that they had failed in this life and were desperate to make amends for their past deeds and wanted to do something to change their ultimate fate but for now, they lived a cursed life and as each of their bodies began to decay, so they were forced to take a fresh one from those who had recently died. For some, this soul hitchhiking had been carried out many times over and therefore, the Nagraal were some of the oldest and wisest of the life forms on Kennet.

Next, there were the Dust Dwellers, the peoples of the great sandstorm of Kennet. They followed the great hurricane as it made its way across the equator of the planet, hiding in the dust and preying on those foolish enough to pass by or be caught up in the great storm. They had small eyes with extra eyelids and nostrils with small flaps of skin across each one to protect them from the clouds of dust and assist them in filtering out the choking sand.

Then there were the giants of Kidder Doon. They were a race of enormous human like creatures, who were flesh and bone during the day but according to legend, turned to stone with the full moon. They lived in the lands to the east of Kennet and only merchants dared to venture there. Most of the giants were craftsmen, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, silversmiths and skilled metallurgists. They were a shy and peaceful race and kept themselves to themselves, only making their way from the hills in order to peddle their crafts with the few travelling merchants, brave enough to make the journey. Other than the merchants, no one had seen a giant for centuries and due to their size and scarcity, myth and legend surrounded them. What people didn’t know, they made up, but what everyone did agree upon was that not seeing a giant suited them just fine.

There were also the Magistan, eccentric and gifted with great insight and the ability to read the stars; they were renowned for their inventiveness and were the scientists and magicians of the world.

The other creatures of Kennet varied enormously, amongst them were the Terror Soar’s, a large flying reptile from the foothills of Kidder Doon. The Wisp Warblers, creatures of vapour and mist from the marshlands who could invade the minds of men and turn them mad. The Widget Hunters of the desert floor, a small carnivorous mouse with razor like teeth, designed for stripping the flesh of carcasses and then there were the Hasty Hagraals. The Hasty Hagraal was a cross between a dog and a bear, renowned for their awesome speed across land; when they moved, it seemed as if they just left one place and then materialised in another with nothing having happened in between. The Hasty Hagraal had the reputation of being the most feared of all lifeforms on Kennet.

Eitak had enjoyed his birthday and in particular, the evening of festivities at the ‘House of the Midday Moon’, he patted his belly as he remembered the great feast of fine foods and wines. Eitak had no family, his parents having passed away several years ago but his friends had made him proud this day and now he could walk the lands of Kennet as an adult. His mind wandered, he had especially enjoyed the lighting of the huge bonfire on the beach in front of the pub and had stood on the shoreline watching the sky darken, the only light filling the sky being that of the raging bonfire. The fire was a massive beacon which would have been visible for miles around. This, Eitak decided must have drawn the army to Monrith and as a result, he began to feel that he may, inadvertently, have been the cause of the current predicament.

Eitak was just wondering where the army had come from, when he became aware of a presence behind him. He hadn’t noticed anyone creeping up and he reeled around quickly and there crouching behind him was a middle-aged man. Eitak jumped, startled by this sudden intrusion. As his pulse began to slow, he studied the character before him. He was a tall rotund gentleman and Eitak estimated him to be around 50 years old. He had a fine crop of hair which was turning white and he wore the clothes of a merchant. About his shoulders sat a rich crimson coloured cape, fastened at the neck by a golden brooch and beneath this was an equally lavish waistcoat of many colours and a flamboyant shirt with full and flowing sleeves. The merchant wore green velvet trousers and long black socks and, on his feet, he wore a pair of expensive looking patent leather shoes. Before Eitak could say anything, the man spoke in a very calm manner, I am Sirod Spa.

Eitak, Eitak La Doog, Eitak replied.

There was no time for proper introductions as one of the metal soldiers that had been left behind to guard the ships, began to take an interest in the beach and the fishing vessels which had been dragged up onto it. Sirod looked along the shoreline to the west of the invading fleet and caught sight of a small fishing boat bobbing up and down in the shallow waters close to the shore. He turned to Eitak, who was now watching some of the metal army as they returned with captured villagers and loaded them into large cages on one of their ships.

The way I see it is like this. We have one chance to get out of this as free men and that is aboard that boat, Sirod said and he pointed to the small fishing boat. There is an offshore breeze blowing and if we can set the sail, we should be able to make it. Eitak considered Sirod for a moment, thinking that he could not believe this man was acting so calmly in a situation like this.

Sirod waited for the enemy to disappear out of sight behind another vessel and then he whispered to Eitak, Run. Follow me. They both ran as fast and quietly as they could towards the shoreline. They waded out to the boat and began to climb in. They had no sooner clambered aboard when they saw a pair of hands appear from the opposite side of the boat; these were followed by the hair covered face of a very weathered looking fisherman. On seeing the two castaways, he appeared annoyed and said in a loud voice, What are you doing in my boat?

Ssshh! Eitak waved his hand in a downwards motion, desperately trying to keep the fisherman quiet so as not to attract the attention of the scout on the beach. Now speaking in a quieter voice but still rather angry, the fisherman said, This is my boat, what are you doing in it?

The same as you, I should imagine, Sirod said sarcastically. Look, we’re all in the same boat here. Can’t we just get going and argue about this later?

Eitak managed to get to the solitary rope at the back of the vessel which was tethering it to the beach and unhitched it from its cleat. Just as the fisherman was about to make a further protest, a flare whistled overhead and plopped into the sea beside him, hissing as it hit the water. The three occupants of the boat looked towards the beach and could see that the soldiers were setting fire to all the fishing fleet, presumably to flush out any villagers hiding amongst them.

Look, if we don’t get out of here now, we are all going to die. Now, shall we forget our differences and get going? Sirod suggested.

The fisherman quickly pulled on a rope and a sail popped up from the deck of the small boat. He reached down and grabbed two oars and threw one at Sirod, the other at Eitak. Right, he said. Seeing as you are here, you’d better get rowing.

Eitak and Sirod rowed for their lives, another flare whistled overhead that had been fired from one of the enemy ships further along the coast. The fisherman raised another sail and before long, despite its small size the fishing boat managed quite a turn of speed and soon the act of rowing became pointless.

Eitak looked towards the shore, none of the enemy boats were following, and Eitak presumed that it was because they had insufficient crew to set sail with their army laying waste to the village.

With the danger over, both Eitak and Sirod withdrew their oars and they turned to look at the fisherman. Eitak spoke first, Look, I’m sorry about that back there but we had no other choice.

The fisherman viewed the two stowaways looked them up and down and then as the scowl on his face softened, he laughed out loud. Ha, look we are all in the same boat here…Ha, now that’s funny. He looked straight at Sirod who didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, then all of a sudden, he realised that the fisherman was repeating what he had said when they first met and he too joined in the merriment. Before long, all three were laughing loudly on the deck of the fishing boat as the shoreline became a distant memory.

Sirod introduced himself first, I am Sirod Spa and this is my friend, Eitak La Doog… He offered his hand and continued, …Pleased to meet you.

The fisherman accepted the gesture and shook with a firm grip. Bones is the name, pleased to meet you too.

Although weathered from years of battling with the sun and sea, Bones was around 30 years old, was quite short and tubby and had a thick head of unkempt brown curly hair which continued on down his cheeks and below his nose to form a thick beard and moustache.

Eitak shook hands with Bones and asked, So, now, what do we do?

Sirod answered, I suggest that we go to Illya and seek an audience with Malarog the Magistan, he will know what to do. I’ve heard rumours about this Golden Army but I’d never seen it for myself until this evening…

Yes, we must go to Illya…and attend the Grand Observatory.

Bones was busy with the sails,